OCR Text

Lethbridge Herald, The (Newspaper) - October 30, 1973, Lethbridge, Alberta
17th anniversary of conflict Oclobtr LETHBRIDGE HtRALO-9 Suez War was political victory for Nasser Forgotten in the turmoil of the current Middle East struggle is the nine-day war which began 17 years ago to- day when Gamal Abdel Nasser turned a crushing military defeat into a major political victory By ELIAS ANTAR CAIRO (AP) The Israelis were among the invaders. The Americans exerted pressure to force them back and the military defeat for the Egyp- tians was turned into a major political victory in a war that began 17 years ago today. The nine days of Oct. 29 to Nov. 6, known as the Suez War. It spread into a full- blown international with Russian rocket almost tore the Atlantic alliance apart. The war pitted Israel, Bri- tain and France against Egypt. The United States voted on Cairo's side when the crunch came and earned begrudging praise from the late President Gamal Abdel Nasser. When it was all over, the world breathed a sigh of re- soon. For the Suez War carried the seeds of the next Arab- Israel round in 1967. The six- day war, in its turn, led to this month's 17-day conflict. The Suez War had more than its share of ironies. When the Israelis invaded Sinai on the morning of Oct. 29, their objective was to smash the Egyptian army and topple Nasser. They reached the Suez canal in less than 100 hours, but Nas- ser survived the defeat, became a hero to his people and the Arab world, and rose to international prominence. The United States handed Nasser a humiliating rebuff by withdrawing an offer to help build the Aswan high dam. Nasser quickly retaliated and nationalized the Western- owned Suez Canal Co. in July, promising to use its profits to build the dam. Britain became convinced that Nasser was a threat to its strategic position in the Mid- dle East. France smouldered at the help he was giving the rebels in its Algerian colony. Two days after the Israelis rolled into Sinai, British bombers pounded Egypt and French paratroops landed at Port Said. The Soviet Union, which had sold Nasser modern weapons, threatened the European allies with its rockets if they did not pull back. But effec- tive assistance in Egypt's hour of need came from United States. Working through the United Nations Security Council and in direct discussions, Presi- dent Eisenhower persuaded the reluctant British and French into pulling out of Egypt. Britain's influence in the region suffered a body- blow and France's travail in Algeria intensified. By March, 1957, the Israelis also had withdrawn from Sinai after pronounced arm- twisting from Washington. But they obtained oral assurances from the United States that it would guarantee Israeli passage through the Straits of Tiran at the tip of Sinai. In May, 1967, Nasser closed the straits to Israeli shipping. The Israelis, saying they were getting help from no one, fought a six-day war when they believed their survival was threatened Sinai was oc- cupied again. Three weeks ago, the Egyp- tian army launched its oper- ation to get Sinai back. It was an operation without full vic- tory for anyone. By some Israeli accounts the Egyptians poured perhaps men and hundreds of tanks over the Suez canal after an artillery barrage. Facing them, according to the same Israeli estimate, were 20 strongpoints of the famed Bar-Lev line strung along the canal's 103-mile length. In the north the Syrians launched a simultanous offen- sive with up to troops and tanks pushing to regain the Golan Heights overlooking Israeli civilian settlements north of the Biblical Sa of Galilee. The Israelis had been caught off guard. Their lines collapsed against the Egyp- tian onslaught that had been planned for years and was carried out with the precision of a military textbook. "They kept saying they would cross the canal. We laughed at them but they went ahead and did it. The Egyptian victory stands to this an Israeli war analyst said. In the north the Israeli forces were pushed back across the Golan of their most prized trophies of the 1967 Syrian un- its that advanced to within three miles of Israeli farms in the green valleys below. On the sixth day, after quick mobilization, the Israelis re- ported some success. Its forces broke through Syrian lines and started sweeping about 20 miles along the road to Damascus. In the Sinai, a great tank battle raged as the Israelis turned their counterattack south. "The Egyptians were across the canal in force, stronger by far than we were, but they stopped to one war analyst said "Then they were lured into a giant setpiece of tank warfare, which is a very special part of our own repertoire. The losses "were heavy on both sides, however." INCOME TAX COURSE BY CORRESPONDENCE You can Earn Extra Income Learn how to prepare the new Tax Forms and become an INCOME TAX CONSULTANT For Full Details. Contact CANADIAN SCHOOL OF TAX ACCOUNTING 69 Eghnton Ave East Toronto, Ontario M4P 1H2 Tanker aground Italian oil tanker Conca d'oro is aground in the port at Palermo, Sicily, following weekend gale-force winds and rough seas which devastated the harbor. In foreground, boats destroyed by the heavy seas. Doz- ens of crafts sank in the harbor and a barge with seven men aboard is missing. YOUR FAMILY DRUG STORE Papers applaud oil embargoes By RICHARD EDEK New York Times Service BEIRUT, Lebanon One by one the Arab oil producers announce embargoes on shipments to the United States. The Lebanese papers applaud their sacrifices and the applause runs on until it is cut short by the space needed for a different campaign the protest over the government's partial ban on driving, in order to gas- oline "How does this help the war One newspaper demanded Businessmen's associations wrote m angrily and one group of lawyers argued that the measure is un- constitutional The betting is that the ban will soon be withdrawn. In any case, the traffic is about as heavy as usual. The objections are natural enough, and probably they have a certain logic. Yet it is a little strange, with some of the Arab nations fighting fiercely and others at least rallying economically to help them, to find Beirut so self absorbed, so untouched. The heat has lasted far past its season and the rains have not been so late in 25 years. Beirut's white and yellow buildings along the sea are steeped in a light haze. Now and then Israeli and Syrian planes twist overhead with loud sonic cracks. A dogfight seen from the cafes here is simply a crossing of vapor trails. Out in the harbor lies the vessel Peace. It belongs to Abie Nathan, who once flew a plane from Haifa to Cairo to try to see Gamal Abdel Nasser, and who now sails his ship up and down the eastern Mediterranean broad- casting peace messages. The Lebanese authorities have prohibited it from docking. Neither war nor peace quite penetrates this city. If the current conflict is called the "Mirror because some of the Israeli successes and Arab losses of 1967 were reversed, what is Beirut's role? Perhaps it is the mirror. It is certainly a city of mirror like balances. There is full identification with the Arab side and there is anger that the United States has resupplied Israel. But all of this is kept in restraint. None of the normal process of life here has been pushed aside. The most expen- sive boutiques in the Middle East are still thronged with the most expensive looking young women. The El Dorado Cafe and the Cafe De Paris, with their soft leather chairs ranged out on the sidewalk, are as full as ever. Despite the resentment over U S policy, there have been next to no demonstrations so far In fact, the only demonstration of any size in front of the U.S. em- bassy was a group of Americans who considered United States policy anti- Arab. When a commando group invaded the Bank of America and held hostages there, the police, after waiting a while, fought its way in, killing three of the five gunmen. Lebanon, with its long com- mercial and banking tradition, its successful parliamentary system, its balance between Christian Arab and Moslem Arab pop- ulations, has reasons for its difference from the other Arab states. Few in the Arab world think of the Lebanese as particularly heroic. On the other hand, their realism has gained them a strength and a usefulness that has won them tolerance by the more belligerent Arab nations. Certainly the pride of the Arabs in the military achievements of the first cou- ple of weeks is felt here. Yet it was Lebanese commentators who were the first to suggest that this pride, this new strength, could be used not so much for a crushing victory over Israel as for a peace, for the present time, between equals. No threat of teacher shortage Get your money's worth OPERATED JLYLI DRUG LIMITED M JO- ALBERTO BALSAM CURITY TAPE TAB DISPOSABLE DIAPERS DAYTIME Pkg. of 30 SUPERSAVER 1.fi3 NEWBORN Pkg. of 30 SUPERSAVER 1.39 r sin II itumtsnl Cmtattitile 30 OVERNITE Pkg. Of SUPERSAVER RESDAN HAIR CONDITIONER FOR DANDRUFF CONTROL 6 oz. Btl. SUPERSAVER iJW KOTEX FEMININE NAPKINS BOX OF 48 SUPERSAVER 1.77 ALBERTO BALSAM CONDITIONER 8 oz. cont. Sugg. List 1.39 91 [SCOPE] INTENSIVE CUE LOTION 18 oz. Cont. Sugg. List 2.19 WITH 40% MORE SUPERSAVER 1.37 ALBERTO BALSAM SHAMPOO 7% oz. Cont Sugg. List SUPERSAVER SCOPE MOUTHWASH 12 oz. Cont. SUPERSAVER feret! ALBERTO FOR BRUMETTES ONLY Sugg. List 2.39 SUPERSAVER 1.44 2.37 BRECKSET SETTING LOTION DEATH DUTIES LONDON (CP) A firm called Necropolis bought six graveyards and decided to ex- cavate them for a housing de- velopment. The company, needing someone to remove the bodies, advertised for an "exhumation assistant with qualifications ecclesiastical and parliamen- tary law and a proper feeling for the job." EDMONTON (CP) -Unex- pected increases in enrolment of education students at the University of Alberta have alleviated the threat of a teacher shortage in Alberta by 1976, Myer Horowitz, dean of the education faculty, says. Dr. Horowitz predicted last year the province would ex- perience a serious teacher shortage because of declining enrolment. But the picture has changed this year with a freshman class of 615, an in- crease of 100 from last year. A record enrolment of 975 was recorded in 1969. Students had been turning away from education because of publicity about teacher un- employment, Dr. Horowitz said in an interview. He added that there never would have been any unemployed teachers if the provincial government hadn't clamped down on education spending in 1970. Future government finan- cial policies will determine if there will be a large number of unemployed teachers in 1976, Dr. Horowitz said. Censes Iqucjc MCT '-'a- -fca. SMILES 'N CHUCKLES ELEGANTE CHERRIES 3f SUPERSAVER 12 oz. Box V05 SHAMPOO OR 15.8 Of. Cont. Sugg. List 2.49 SWiRSMER 1i33 SOFTIQUE BATH OIL BEADS 16 ox. Cont Sugg. LM 1.77 SDKKSIflUI 1iQ9 SOFT A DRI ANTI-PERSMIUNT 5 ot. Cont. Sugg. List 1.S9 SKPERSAVER V05 HAIR SPRAY 13 oz. Cont Sugg. List 2.98 SUPERSAVER 1i67 OIL OP OLAY SKIN MOISTURIZER lor Cont. Sugg. List 1.2S SUPERSAVER ORNADE COLD CAPSULES Pkg. of 12 SUPERSAVER nose (frogs MULTIPLES OR DROPS Sugg. List 1.50 NcoCrtran Btl. Sugg.' CITR4R ADULT Of 10 Sugg. 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